Turntable Review

A. Mechanical
The new Sony PS FL7ii turntable works flawlessly -- push the open button and the record tray slides slowly out (just like the $20,000 laser turntable, ha!) Insert an LP, clean it a bit with my Discwasher, close the tray, hit play. Just like the Technics the audio is muted while the arm floats over the LP and is lowered gently into the first groove. Then it unmutes. Like the Technics it does an excellent job of unmuting before the audio on the record actually starts, and muting again after he last song before picking up the needle. On my old table there were just maybe 2-3 records where to music started too soon or the music went on too long, and the needle lifted too soon or dropped too late. With the Technics I could manually override the automatic placement. Will have to check if that's true here. Haven't needed to yet -- but yeah, I should be able to. There are button to lift the stylus, and buttons to advance it into the record or back it out, so I should in theory be able to manually start the needle anywhere.

Because the needle mechanism is buried deep inside the unit -- unlike the Technics, where the cover was half glass -- the Sony has a yellow LED mounted next to the needle which illuminates the record where it is playing and indicates the progress of the needle across the surface. You have to get down in the plane of the record to see it, but sitting in my recliner puts me at the right level. Other than that the only indicators on the front of the unit are a square green LED above the Start-Stop button, and a red one above the 33--45 RPM indicator. A little digital readout would've been nice. The $20,000 turntable has one!

B. Electrical
The Technics were MC (moving coil) cartridges so they didn't play as loud as a standard MM (moving magnet) turntable. This new Sony is MM but still has a slightly-less-than line level output through the preamp. I have to turn my amplifier up to -20dB whereas with a CD -30dB is max. Not a big deal -- still plenty of headroom.

C. Sound
First impressions: 1) I don't miss that constant bacon frying. On even fairly new records well-cleaned, there are audible pops and clicks. Having spent many months chasing these down to make CD-R copies, I can't help thinking as I listen how much work it'd be to clean up one of these LPs. I might be doing some more, now that I have a turntable -- but I'm not looking forward to it.
2) The sound balance of the cartridge is nice -- very smooth midrange and a surprisingly ballsy bass. The ultra-high end isn't quite as sharp as a CD, but I expect that. Actually the pops and clicks are remarkably sharp and clear, so I don't think it's the cartridge's fault. I think the LPs are rolled off above 8,000 Hz!
3) On headphones the imaging is good. Maybe great. Nice wide soundfield with what feels like 100% separation (although I know LPs don't do 100%). The balance in the middle feels very natural, with no signs of frequency response anomalies causing the center image to shift or be shaky. The cartridge seems to have a nice smooth response.
4) Turntable rumble is minimal. Some "groove noise" of which I spoke earlier but little if any evidence that the cartridge is picking up anything from the turntable itself. No feedback when playing fairly loud right next to a speaker. If I tap the wooden stand my stereo sits in, the taps are telegraphed straight through to the needle and very plainly obvious in the audio (on headphones) -- so the cartridge is definitely picking up ambient noise when there is any. Good news -- the platter & motor are almost silent.
4a) On the Milt Jackson LP I played first, there were a few small areas where the needle didn't track his vibes 100%. I could hear that. I noticed. But they were few.
5) Overall then a very musical sounding turntable. Very pleased with it. Aside from the ever-present "groove noise" and clicks/pops -- which in my experience ALL records have -- it sounds great.

More testing up next.

Vacuum record cleaners. Some people swear by them. I doubt I'm interested in spending the money ($900-3000) but I wonder if they really work.

People who own laser turntables are REQUIRED by the manufacturer to own one.

A - B Comparison

I was recently on a Bill Frisell kick, and bought a CD of his 1986 ECM album with bassist Marc Johnson (and drummer Peter Erskine) called "Bass Desires." Gives me a perfect example to compare, since I have a near-mint LP of the same album. The CD doesn't say it was remixed, so I think this is a pretty fair comparison.

Starting both of them at the same time allows me to switch back and forth between them.

1) You've never mistake one for the other. The CD doesn't have any surface noise.

2) The mid-bass (100-250 Hz) is fuller on the LP. Gives it a heavier bottom. But the low bass -- under 100 Hz -- is deficient on the LP compared to the CD, as evidenced by the kick drum. Both sound fine and balanced in isolation, but A - B comparisons show a clear difference.

3) Similarly the CD sizzles in the high end. The LP is... "warmer." It's rolled off above about 8,000 Hz. Again the effect isn't objectionable, just very clear in direct comparison.

4) Soundstage & imaging -- because Erskine's snare is rolled off on the LP, you miss all of the studio "air" around his drumkit. It's subtle, but once I noticed it it was very apparent. The LP has a lot less soundstage, a lot less sense of the size of the studio. I credit this entirely to the reduced high end on the LP. The mids and lows are very comparable, the transients and FR sound equally good. But the LP is playing behind a wool carpet compared to the CD.

Two new additions to this thread.

One.
I've been doing a lot of LP-to-CD conversions this month, and for some reason my "main" turntable, the Panasonic Technics SL-6 has gone tits on me.  The servo that moves the cartridge across the record is stuck "on" causing the needle to be stuck at the outer edge of the record.  I cannot be lowered.  I guess I wore it out.

No matter, I have the Sony PS FL7ii mentioned above.  A little harder to use, but fully functional.  I moved the audio cables over to the Sony and kept on dubbing.  Surprise!  The Sony is actually considerably quieter, less inherent hum (noticable when doing fine editing) and the cartridge actually seems to pick up fewer ticks and pops.  If I'd known it sounded this much better I'd have swapped it six years ago!

Two.
I was reading my article on the laser turntable and noticed somebody had added a link to a different optical turntable, the Optora OPT-1.  A review of this table, linked by the author, shows all kinds of high-end tables, shows a bunch of pictures, apparently real, of some of the most LOL-inducing rigs I have ever seen.  Talk about audio B.S.!  This site is EPIC.

Oh fuck me silly with a frozen potato.  On one of the "high end" audio forums, somebody has posted a review of the NON-FUNCTIONING MOCKUP of the Optora turntable, and the concepts he proposes are fucking HILARIOUS!

Quote :

You folks are missing the point, LP's have the grove sides, L/R are offset on purpose to set up a rotation in the stylus in proper predetermined parts of the music program. This sets up ambiance that the engineer decided were needed, weather or not done on purpose this will not get picked up by a non contact system. This makes a reverse current, a reverse phase sound.

In MHO,

This thing will have a dull CD type sound, no I don't like it.

Show me a stylus that rotates and I'll show you a seriously-damaged turntable!